


would you still think i'm poggers if i'm gay?

by brainrrot



Category: Blaseball (Video Game)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Angst? I guess?, M/M, Seattle Garages (Blaseball Team), lowercase mike, rated t for drinking and language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-29
Updated: 2020-11-29
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:40:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,571
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27773188
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brainrrot/pseuds/brainrrot
Summary: He chuckled to himself. No dating Tillman. There would be too many layers of irony to even know what was going on. But then, he thought about it. He thought about the bar hopping with Tillman and the going on adventures and Tillman carrying an umbrella so Mike could travel with him to games and it hit him all too soon that he was in love with Tillman Henderson.
Relationships: Mike Townsend/Tillman Henderson
Comments: 2
Kudos: 15





	would you still think i'm poggers if i'm gay?

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This story takes place after season 10 and before season 11. I'm kinda new to blaseball, so some stuff may be wrong. Also, the house in Seattle (2222 Everett Avenue E) is a real house you can look up and see pictures of! That should be all, hope you enjoy!

The first thing Tillman ever said to Mike was “Wow, you’re in the Shadows now?”

Mike looked up at Tillman. Tillman was in the dugout with Mike, standing across from the particularly shady part of the dugout Mike was in and leaning on some lockers. Shoe Thieves and Garages were training together, for whatever reason, and Mike had just been watching.

“Yeah, I… traded myself for Jaylen.”

“We all know that, but why?” Tillman grinned his shit-eating grin and raised an eyebrow. Mike sighed and shook his head. 

“Well… I just figured that they’d miss me less than they’d miss her, you know?” He looked up at the fluorescent light. It hurt his eyes, but he didn’t care. He remembered the chantings of “Mike Townsend is a Disappointment” by the crowd, the looks his teammates would give him, the looks of disappointment from, well, everyone. It resonated with him, leaving a stain in his brain forever. He really was the shittiest in the league, and it felt great to be out of the spotlight.

When he didn’t get a response, Mike looked back down to where Tillman was supposed to be standing. Tillman was gone. 

And so were Mike’s shoes. 

Mike sighed. He probably should have expected that, knowing that Tillman was a shoe thief, but it was fine. Probably. 

Mike disappeared from the dugout and then reappeared in his dark apartment. Ever since he retreated to the shadows, he could only live in shadowy areas, and since it was nearly impossible to travel on foot in the shadows everywhere, he and the others in the shadows had gained Shadow Travel, which allowed for them to teleport as long as they were in shadowy areas. 

Mike flopped down on his dented couch, letting out a sigh. He should probably figure out how to get his shoes back, but instead he turned on the TV. He flicked through some channels before turning it back off. Nothing seemed even remotely interesting. Then, his phone buzzed. 

843-123-1324 sent you a message.  
843-123-1324: sup, this is tillman.  
843-123-1324: don’t ask how i got your number  
843-123-1324: look, i know you have to stay in the shadows and all, but i was wondering  
843-123-1324: do you want to like, go to a bar or something?  
843-123-1324: I bet you’d be hella good at dlarts  
843-123-1324: anyway, send a message when you can. or don’t. see if i care.  
843-123-1324: but if you meet with me, you can get your shoes back.

Mike furrowed his brow. How did Tillman of all people get his number? 

Jaylen sent you a message  
Jaylen: Hey, I lost a game of pool to Tillman and had to give him your number. Any idea as to why he would need that?

Mike really had no idea whatsoever. What did Tillman want from him? 

Mike texted Jaylen before texting Tillman. 

Me: I really have no idea… He asked to meet at a bar? So I can get my shoes back. He stole them.  
Jaylen: Oh my god.  
Me: What?  
Jaylen: Did Tillman fucking Henderson just ask you out on a date?  
Me: Surely not, it’s probably just so I can get my shoes back.  
Jaylen: Holy shit.  
Jaylen: If he’s asking you out as a prank, I’m so killing him.  
Me: I’ll meet up with him and see what he wants.  
Jaylen: Let me come with you.  
Me: No, there’s no need, I can handle this on my own.  
Me: I think. Besides, you’re in San Francisco now.  
Jaylen: Aww, you’re a big boy now  
Me: Shut up  
Jaylen: If there’s any issues, give me a call, okay?  
Me: I will, thanks Jaylen  
Jaylen: Of course, Mike. Stay safe

Mike changed 843-123-1324’s contact name to Tillman  
Me: I’m not sure if I can go to bars. Too much light.  
Tillman: loser  
Tillman: you can just say you don’t want to go to a bar  
Tillman: like a looooser  
Me: What?  
Me: I would like my shoes back, so I would like to go.  
Tillman: listen, you find a shady corner, and we’ll work from there, okay? there’s bound to be at least one in a bar.  
Tillman: mike, you there?  
Tillman: it’s been, like, five minutes  
Me: Sorry, was thinking  
Me: That should work, which bar?  
Tillman: well, we’re in your town still, so you choose.  
Me: Uh, how about the one on Pike Street? Literally just called Pike Street Bar.  
Tillman: what time?  
Me: Well, I kinda need my shoes back tonight, so how about, like, 8pm tonight?  
Tillman: wow, didn’t think you’d be that desperate to see me.  
Tillman: see you there, nerd

Mike tossed his phone to the side and sighed. What in the world did Tillman Henderson want with him? He was so confused. He just turned the TV back on and picked a show to use as background noise for his thoughts. Tillman Henderson. Described as the worst person in Blaseball. He owed everyone in the league at least $50 at all times. And he wanted to meet up with Mike. 

Soon enough, it was nearing 8:00, and Mike had to travel to the bar. He did what he always did: pictured himself where he wanted to be, and boom, he ended up in a shadowy region of the bar on Pike Street. Mike looked around. No sign of Tillman. 

A sigh escaped Mike as he slumped against the wall. This was probably just a prank, wasn’t it? Tillman and Declan were sure gonna get a laugh out of this one. Mike thought about leaving and texting Jaylen, but then he heard someone clear their throat from his left. 

Mike turned to face where the voice was coming from, then found himself having to look down a bit so he could see Tillman. Wow, was he always that short? 

Tillman tossed Mike’s shoes at him. “Here you go, nerd. Your shoes back.”

“Thanks.” Mike put his shoes back on. Tillman went to order some drinks, probably the shittiest beer he could find. Mike couldn’t remember any beer brands, this totally wasn’t because the writer didn’t know any beer brands. Not at all. 

Tillman came back and handed Mike a drink. Mike took a swig and made a face. Yep. It was definitely the shittiest beer he could find. 

Tillman laughed at the face Mike made. “What, can’t handle premium beer?”

“This is, legitimately, the worst thing I’ve ever tasted.” Mike shook his head, like that would get rid of the taste. He desperately needed some water to get rid of the god-awful taste. Words cannot describe how bad it was. It was truly the Tillman of beers. “Where the fuck did you find beer this awful?” 

“First drink I had. Never drank anything else.” Tillman smiled and took another swig. Mike looked at him incredulously. How could he stand that? He realized he was staring Tilllman in the eyes and looked down at his feet.

“What’s wrong, Townsend, nervous?” He grinned his shit-eating grin again.

“Nope, just… not sure where to look.” He laughed nervously. Yeah, he was definitely nervous. Because what if this was a prank? No way Tillman Henderson does anything like this and it’s not a prank. No way. Tillman did everything as a joke. Everything was ironic for him. There was no way he was being sincere. But what was sincere? Was this a date? Was it just a meet up to get his shoes back? Would Tillman regularly give people their shoes back? Or was it to lure him there to get a prank in? Mike was pretty much the laughing stock of the league. Or, at least, was. It’s possible some people hadn’t moved on from that. “So, why did you ask me to come here?” Mike asked

“Easy. Wanna get drunk and then vandalize some shit?”

“...What?” 

“Uh, did you not hear me? I said, do you wanna get drunk and then vandalize some shit?” 

“...Why me?”

“You’re lonely, duh. And, hey, you don’t seem half bad.”

“Are… Are you trying to initiate a friendship?”

Tillman threw his hands up in the air, spilling some beer. “I guess!”

“Sure thing, man. Just no more of this beer.” Mike was more interested in why Tillman Henderson wanted to be friends with him more than actually wanted to get drunk and vandalize something. 

Mike sat in Tillman’s car, half-drunk, while Tillman drove like a madman. They weren’t running from anyone, despite just destroying half of Ammazzon’s packages, Tillman just drove like that. Mike’s head was pounding and his liver felt like it was crying from all the alcohol, but it was so worth it. 

Tillman parked in the parking lot to Mike’s apartment complex, away from most of the street lights. Mike smiled slightly, looking at him. It was nice, having someone to be around. Ever since Jaylen had been gone, Mike had been pretty lonely. But now, he was in Tillman Henderson’s car, laughing their asses off. This is not what he expected from this night. But, hey, no complaints. 

“I guess I better get going, huh?” Mike shook his head. 

“Wanna meet up tomorrow?”

“We have more training tomorrow.”

“Yeah, but, you know, after training. It would be poggers if you could.”

“Wow, you’re really not good at this whole socializing thing. Sure thing man, I’m down.”

And so they began hanging out more and more. They would end up at Mike’s apartment just talking for hours on end about teammates, friends, foes, video games, movies, whatever they could come up with. Anything was an excuse to hang out with Tillman longer. Mike soon started to realize, maybe Tillman wasn’t such a bad friend. Sure, shadow travelling to and from Washington to Charleston was tiring, but it was worth it. Mike thought about asking Jaylen to hang out like that, but, after a while, he started to almost… prefer hanging out with Tillman. Not that he didn’t like Jaylen anymore. Jaylen was and always would be his best friend. But there was just something about Tillman. 

One day, Mike picked up his phone after sleeping for about 13 hours. Shadow travel was demanding work. He woke up to several texts from both Jaylen and Tillman.

Jaylen sent you a message  
Jaylen: Mike.  
Jaylen: MIKE.  
Jaylen: Rumors are going around like CRAZY right now.  
Jaylen: Don’t tell me they’re true  
Jaylen: All the Shoe Thieves are constantly seeing you with Tillman?  
Jaylen: Tillman FUCKING HENDERSON???  
Jaylen: Please. Please tell me they’re not true.  
Jaylen: I’ll have an aneurism if they’re true.

Mike sucked in his breath. He hadn’t even thought about what Jaylen would think. For a while, he had forgotten that Tillman was the most hated person in all of Blaseball.

Me: Uh, yeah, it’s true  
Me: But he’s not as bad as you’d think!  
Jaylen: MICHAEL TOWNSEND  
Jaylen: ARE YOU SERIOUSLY TELLING ME THAT YOU’RE WILLINGLY HANGING OUT WITH TILLMAN FUCKING HENDERSON  
Me: Well, he’s not as bad as you’d think  
Jaylen: What the fuck do you MEAN  
Jaylen: He owes everyone like FIFTY FUCKING DOLLARS!!  
Me: He may just need a reminder, he repays me whenever I buy him stuff.  
Jaylen: Oh, that’s interesting.  
Jaylen: But are you two like  
Jaylen: Going out?

Mike spit out the water he was drinking. 

Me: What?  
Me: Hell no  
Me: I don’t think I could ever date Tillman  
Jaylen: How the hell are you friends with him?  
Me: He’s kind of  
Me: Refreshing?  
Me: He gets what it’s like to be hated  
Me: He gets what it’s like to not be liked, you know?  
Jaylen: But you are liked. By me.  
Me: Yeah but

Mike felt tears pricking at his eyes. No. Not now.

Me: It wasn’t always like that.

Mike Townsend is a disappointment, 

Me: they really hated me jaylen.

He’s a loser and a total disgrace.

Jaylen: Uh oh, lowercase Mike

Mike Townsend is a disappointment

Me: haha don’t worry about it

Mike Townsend better end up in flames.

They seriously wanted him incinerated. 

Mike put his phone down, wiping his eyes and ignoring all of the messages he was getting from Jaylen. He remembered the scornful faces of his teammates when he was there and Jaylen wasn’t. They just used him as an emotional punching bag, something to take everything out on. 

He wasn’t special.

He wasn’t talented.

He was just Mike. 

Suddenly, Mike’s phone rang, making him jump. It was Tillman. Mike had half a mind to ignore it, but… 

He picked up the phone. 

“hello?” 

“Mike! Buddy, I’ve been texting you! Where have you been?”

“oh, just asleep. nothing to worry about.” He held the phone away from his face and sniffled.

“I have an amazing idea the next time you’re in town. I have a vacation home in Seattle now, I’m coming up today. About to board the plane.”

Mike paused. “huh?” 

“Yeah, convinced my parents to buy me one there. Isn’t that poggers?”

“uh. yeah. but how long have you had it?”

“Oh, we just got permission to move in a month ago! I’ve been busy decorating it, I wanted to surprise you.”

“You… wanted to surprise me?” Mike wiped his eyes, but he wasn’t crying anymore.

“Yeah! Wait, that’s cheesy as fuck. Forget I said that! That’s cringe!” 

“Tillman-”

“Gotta go!” Tillman said hurriedly before hanging up. Mike suspected that he didn’t actually have to go. Tillman just hated emotions.

Mike took a deep breath and checked his messages from Jaylen.

Jaylen: Mike??  
Jaylen: Mike i’m so so sorry  
Jaylen: I had no idea  
Jaylen: Do you want me to talk to them?  
Jaylen: Mike??  
Jaylen: Mike please answer me  
Me: I’m back, sorry, Tillman called.  
Me: Please, please don’t talk to them.  
Jaylen: Okay, I won’t  
Jaylen: But, Mike, do me a favor?  
Me: Yeah?  
Jaylen: Go see a therapist  
Me: Huh?  
Jaylen: Look, it obviously traumatized you. You gotta do something about that, or it’ll get worse.  
Jaylen: There’s nothing wrong with going to therapy. I go to therapy!  
Jaylen: Do you promise me?  
Me: I’ll do my best to find a good therapist.  
Jaylen: Thank you.  
Me: Thank you for sticking with me  
Jaylen: Of course, we’re friends! Now, gotta go practice. Bye!  
Me: Bye :)

Mike checked his messages from Tillman, finding a house with an address. 

Tillman: 2222 Everett Avenue E 

Mike smiled and decided to just lay around and wait for Tillman to call. It would probably be a while, seeing as it’s now almost 2 in the afternoon, and the flights are at least seven hours, but it was worth it to Mike. Why was it worth it to Mike? Mike shook his head. Because they were friends, duh! He chuckled to himself. No dating Tillman. There would be too many layers of irony to even know what was going on. But then, he thought about it. He thought about the bar hopping with Tillman and the going on adventures and Tillman carrying an umbrella so Mike could travel with him to games and it hit him all too soon that he was in love with Tillman Henderson.

And he wasn’t sure what to do about that.

At around midnight, Mike woke up to his phone ringing. He picked it up. It was Tillman. Mike answered the phone and put it up to his ear.

“Hello?”

“Finally here! I’m on my way to your place.”

“Oh, let me get showered and dressed.”

Mike hung up and went to his wardrobe, picking out some clothes at random and then going to take a shower. He finished quickly, got halfway dressed, then realized he forgot to grab a shirt. He stepped out to go get one.

He did not expect Tillman to be sitting in his living room, staring at his skinny chest and stomach with wide eyes. 

Mike froze like a deer in headlights. He felt his face flush up. This was not ideal. 

“Oh, uh, do you want me to go somewhere else?” Tillman said, still staring at Mike’s chest. Wow, this could not get any weirder. Thanks Tillman. 

“I’ll just… go in my room and get a shirt real quick.” Tillman nodded and Mike went into his room and grabbed a dark red shirt from his floor to put on. Why was Tillman staring so bad?

It’s not like I’m attractive or anything, Mike thought as he went back to the living room. Was Tillman… blushing? Nah, it was just the lighting. Somehow. 

“So, you wanna go see the new crib?” Tillman grinned like his face wasn’t growing pinker and pinker by the minute. 

“Uh, sure thing, dude.” They went to Tillman’s car, Mike looking down at Tillman’s head for a good portion of the walk. It was hard to figure this man out. Was there gay subtext to this? Probably. Was Mike going to look any further into this? Nope. 

After getting in the car with Mike, he rediscovered, as he did every time, that Tillman really could not drive. Seriously, how did he get past his driving test? Did his parents just bribe them? Does he know how to drive and pretends he doesn’t? Mike didn’t even know where to start asking questions. He probably should just drop it. He watched Tillman take a hit of his vape and breathe out bacon-flavored smoke. 

Tillman looked at him and flashed a smile. “Almost there.” He sped up, and Mike held on to the door. 

Once they arrived, Mike looked out his window at the house, mouth agape. The place was huge. 

“Dude, your parents just bought this for you?”

“It was kind of a parting gift, seeing as they don’t want much to do with me anymore now that I’m legally dead.” Was that spite in his tone? 

“They… what?”

“Yeah, they told me that they no longer want to support me, since I died and came back.” He forced a smile at Mike. “But, like, it doesn’t matter, they were cringe asshats anyway.”

“Bro, that sounds rough. If you need to talk-”

“I don’t need to talk. I’m fine.”

“You don’t look fi-”

“I SAID I’M FINE!” Tillman raised his voice, making Mike flinch a bit. Tillman looked at him, eyes wide.

“Mike, I-I didn’t mean to-”

“It’s okay.” Mike didn’t even look at him for a while. “it’s fine.”

“Man, I prommy, I didn’t mean to yell at you like that. It’s just been- well- I don’t-” He floundered, stuttering out words that barely made sense. 

Mike just nodded. “i get it. i shouldn’t have pried.”

“Aw, man, now you’re speaking like that again… damn dude, I…”

Mike looked at him. “you can… tell the difference?”

“Yeah, man. I mean, I’ve been around you long enough to tell.”

“...nobody else is really able to tell unless it’s over text…”

“Really? Damn. Listen, I…” He sighed. “I’m sorry, okay?”

Mike smiled slightly. “It’s okay, don’t sweat it, bro, I just…”

“Was it because of the way the Garages used to treat you?”

“Huh?”

“Cmon, man, pretty much everyone else agrees that they treated you like utter garbage, even if you did suck at pitching. That shit just wasn’t poggers.”

“You… think so?”

“Yeah dude, you… you don’t suck as much as they thought you did.”

“...Thanks.” Mike’s smile widened a bit. 

“Now, you gotta go inside and see this Fortnite rug I found.” He grinned again, and Mike chuckled. “Fine, you gotta give me a tour, though.”

Tillman did give Mike a tour. It took a while, because of how extensive the house was, but it was pretty damn cool. They ended up back in the living room, where Tillman flopped on the couch, which was accentuated by his Fortnite rug. Mike sat down beside him, and Tillman flipped through the channels on his TV, settling for a cheesy romance they could make fun of. 

About halfway through the movie, Tillman scooted over on the couch and put his arm around Mike. Mike looked at him, then quickly looked back at the television, not registering anything besides Tillman fucking Henderson was putting his arm around him. Mike slowly leaned his head on Tillman’s shoulder, tensed up and afraid that it would get Tillman to stop, but then Tillman began playing with Mike’s hair and Mike relaxed a bit more.

Tillman furrowed his brow. “You know, I can’t figure out how people know that they’re gay. Or straight. Or whatever.”

“Hm?” Mike turned to look at him. 

“I mean, I’ve kissed girls and such, but it’s not like I liked it. I just… did it. Because everyone else was.” 

Mike stared at him. “Dude. You’re probably gay.”

“Am not!”

“Well, do you like kissing guys?” 

“Never tried it.”

“Wanna try it now?” Mike mentally kicked himself for saying that.

Tillman looked at Mike. “Huh?”

“Like. You know. You don’t look bad. You’re pretty cool. We could, like, uh, you know, try it? Just once. See what happens.” Mike was looking away and actually kicking himself now. 

“Bro…”

“Sorry, that’s way too forward-”

“Kiss me or you have to play fortnite with me.”

Mike looked back at Tillman. “You can literally just say that you want a kiss.” Mike leaned towards him and gently put his lips on Tillman’s. Tillman put both arms around Mike, leaning into the kiss. I cannot write anymore because if I do the gods will strike me down. Godspeed, asshats, godspeed.


End file.
